Venus
by Tina Chaves1
Summary: Hard to sum up...! About Rachel and her new group of friends as they grow into young women, facing all the new challenges of this new phase. A girl's POV mine :P on girl stuff! HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**Venus**  
by Tina

---EDITED-  
Just to inform you guys that this chapter has been edited. Not much over all, but things I felt that sounded better this way. More information about it can be found in the beginning of the 4th chapter.

---PLEASE READ THIS-  
Ok, so... I know I haven't finished 'And I Feel Home' yet, but c'mon, only an epilogue to go. When I said I was going to start a fluff-fic, this is not the fic I was refering to. So beware, this is certainly NOT a fluff-fic!  
This fic... whoa, it's so hard to explain. I had this idea a long - I mean LONG - time ago. And I've always wanted to finish it (I've had quite a lot of it written at some point!). But I guess part of me didn't think I had enough maturity to do so. I'm still not sure I'm mature enough to do it, but I really want to. I owe this to a lot of people. These characters... man... I've come up with them a long time ago, along with the idea of the fic. It's weird because in so many ways it's like they exist somehow. I know them too well, we could sit down here and I could tell you all about their lives! And I'm in love with each one of them :P But... I'm aprehensive. Why? Because out of all the main characters of this fic, you just originally know two of them. Yup, Ross and Rachel. The other members of the gang? Nuh-uh, not in this fic!  
See, this fic is supposed to be a continuation of an old fic of mine called 'The girl in the mirror'. You DON'T need to read that in order to understand it. In fact, I'd prefer that you didn't, lol, since I hate that one now. All you need to know will be explained as this fic goes... But, ok, just to place you a bit... Summary of the fic: Rachel dates Ross, Rachel breaks up with him because of her popular friends, Rachel gets anorexic, Ross helps her out of it, R&R get back together and then Rachel moves to London! That's it. This story is all based in London. Now... I WILL talk a lot about the new characters. I sincerely hope you like them. There will be a lot R&R too, of course, but there will be a lot of other stuff. Most of the content will be ADULT. I most likely will make a LOT of R rated chapters because of it. So if you don't feel comfortable reading about sexuality (hetero, homo and bisexual), I suggest you don't read this. I probably will fail giving this the atention I feel it deserves, but the best I can do is try, right?  
This chapter's only an introduction of the first few characters, really... Hope you like it and please, your reviews is the only way for me to know what you think!!

Disclaimer: Ross Geller, Rachel Green and other minor characters from the t.v. show 'Friends' do not belong to me. They belong to Bright, Kauffman and Crane in association with Warner Bros. Gwen, Michelle, Helen and the rest of the new characters in this fic are mine. This story is also mine and you need my permition to post it anywhere.

I would like to dedicate this story to Lili, Irene, Kristen, Vero and the other girls out there in the world. This is for you. Although I'm sure guys might also enjoy it, lol! Just a girls' view on girl stuff! Trying to be honest, here...!

Now I'll stop bothering ya..! Scroll down already and read ;)

-------------------------

"Come my little Venus  
Wrapped in shadows, yeah you're one of us  
And I hear the footsteps inside your head  
Walking, trying to find yourself  
I found myself in you  
Let me in, let me breathe  
Yeah I found myself in you  
Oh yeah..."

Algebra was a pain on the ass under any normal circunstance. When you parents couldn't stop shouting on the next room, it was unbearable. Rachel shoved her books aside, there was no way she would be able to focus like that.

She stared at the ceiling.

It had become a routine her parents were becoming masters at. Since the relocation to a smaller city just outside London, the fights had become more constant and verbally agressive. It seemed like a day couldn't go by without a big comotion at the Green household anymore.

But still... Rachel liked England. After everything she'd gone through in Long Island, a change like that was very much needed. At the prime of her 17 years, she well knew there was much to life than the little routine she led in the States. Her little bubble had long ago bursted and she was now facing life face to face. It seemed scary at times, but she was brave and it made her feel, oh, so proud of herself. And so, after four months living in the new country, she was already developing roots and settling down.

Of course there was much she missed from her previous home. Her friends - specially best friend Monica - her school, the shopping malls, the rest of her family... But the one name on top of that list would always be his; Ross Geller's.

When she left, they'd made a promise they would go on with their lives, even though they knew that wasn't a goodbye. Neither wanted the other to put things on hold, risk their happiness over that. Life was supposed to go on. But as time went by, it seemed neither was capable to simply 'let go'. It proved to be a much more complicated task than it apeared at first thought.

So they talked to each other practicly everyday, on the Internet. The letters and packages were constant, the phonecalls weekly and they'd always end with an "I love you". Both had recently installed microphones and webcams on their computers, which made things easy.

Hah, easy... Anything but, in fact. But it helped. As days went by, they lived their lives enjoying things as they could and counting as days passed by. Though Rachel was enjoying her time in England, she still planned on going to college in the US. Ross had just been accepted at NYU, where he was going to be majoring in paleontology. That's where Rachel wanted to go. Didn't matter really where, really, just as long as she was with him. And then she'd be back. For good.

The shouting got louder and Rachel's eyes filled up with tears. Most of the times she felt bad for the whole scenario, her family was falling apart and she just knew it. But a tiny part of her wished her mother would just get it over with, ask for a divorce and take her and her sisters back to America.

She shook her head, she shouldn't be asking for such thing.

But facing reality, the divorce bit seemed like the most likely possibility for them. They have never been the picture perfect family - well, except when they were indeed posing for pictures. They were, under this circunstance, everything you'd expect from a perfect family. Their smiles were wide, they all looked so good. But it was just the outside... In the everyday life, they'd always been distant, sometimes cold or even cruel. And it all just seemed to get worse now.

The relationship Rachel mantained with her two younger sisters had always been dreadful. Now, it was... Rachel couldn't even find a word to define it. Amy was just about two years younger than Rachel, fifteen. Amy came again two years after her, she was thirteen. Both vowed never to forgive the eldest for her decision to study in an all girls school. Given that Leonard Green applauded her decision, he'd decided to extend the it upon the other two.

Rachel didn't know why, but just being around other girls made her feel closer to Ross. She was not about to question that and maybe ruin that warm feeling that still lived inside of her. She treasured it more than anything.

The notes on her note books called out for her. The numbers seemed to dance and mock her. She was so gonna fail.

"Argh!!" she couldn't help but let out.

With that, she picked up her books and unsucessfully resumed trying to do her homework.

------------------------------

Rachel approached the old school builting with bags under her eyes. Bla, she didn't care. For the first time, she truthfully didn't care. The gardens through which she made her way were vast. A grey brick path lead her to the main builting, which had high ceiling and consisted of dark stone walls. It had a gothic look to it, almost looked ike an old church. Opulent, it made you feel incredibly small in all its plenitude.

She was wearing the infamous school uniform. Despite her passion for fashion, Rachel sometimes had to admit she quite liked the fact they all had to use uniforms. It put everybody in the same level, one way or another. It consisted on a knee-high white, dark red and navy blue squared skirt, a white shirt, a navy blue sweater with the school emblema, a dark red tie, white socks and black shoes. It amazed Rachel how some people still managed to let a bit of their personality show wearing the same combination as the others.

By the steps, three girls sat around; a blonde, a brunette and a red haired. The brunette looked up and waved at Rachel. Rachel smiled and waved back.

"You look awful!" she commented.

"Geez, Helen, thanks"

"Morning!" the blonde had a cute smile on her face and winked at Rachel.

Rachel smiled back.

"Good morning, Michelle"

Rachel joined them on the steps and noticed Michelle and Helen were copying what it seemed to be the red haired's Algebra home work. The latter had her head low, resting on her lap. Rachel greeted her with a gentle kick.

"G'morning, Gwen"

Gwen granted herself the right to just hold a hand up and wave. Rachel chuckled.

"Did you do it?" Helen asked, motioning to the homework they were copying.

"Tried. I'm gonna have to check the answers though, my parents were fighting last night and I couldn't concentrate"

Though Rachel's statement came out quite cooly, the blonde still looked up with her with the most sympathetic smile she'd ever seen.

"Again?"

"Yeah..."

"How are you feeling?" she went on.

"I'm fine..."

The girls sympathetically smiled at her and Rachel hided her sorrow by doing the same. She quickly gathered her things and started checking her homework.

The glorious silence that fell upon them just reminded Rachel of how great things could be there. She'd found a great group of friends that, okay, could not possibly replace the others she'd left behind - it was not a competition, each was special in their own single way - but gave her everything she needed at the time.

They were different from one another and even very different from Rachel. But she knew that if she picked up a few qualities of each one of them, she'd have all of her own. The diversity was positive. The girls held great respect for one another's view and really loved them for who they were. Just the way they were.

First, there was Helen. It was her Rachel met first and maybe that's why she was the one she felt closest to. So much sometimes Rachel had to stop herself from calling her 'Monica'. Helen was the most random of them all, a "girl next door", to use an american expression. The first thing to you'd notice about her was that Helen always had a smile upon her face. Extremely funny, straight foward, sweet and caring. Deep down, though, she had a lot of unfinished business with herself that she never exposed for anyone to see. In that aspect, you could say she sometimes used her good social skills to keep people away, if that made any sense. She was median high, median built, staight brown hair with some reddish strips and brown eyes.

Gwen... An interesting person, to say the least. Rachel refered to her as a walking contradiction. She was skinny, had chin length red hair, green eyes, about eight piercings and five tattoos through her body. Despite the fact they were prohibited at school as they did not make part of the uniform set, an exception had been secretly made just for her due her exceptional academic skills. Gwen was always supposed to represent the school in educational matches and did it with great displeasure for she hated the idea of competition. But, you do what you gotta do...! Despite all her praises at school, Gwen wasn't the kind of girl who took it very seriously. She had other things in mind. She was revolutionary, always discussing political matters with teachers. Ones which, sometimes, ended with a visit to the principal's office. She could become quite quiet sometimes, but Rachel knew her to be very sensitive.

Michelle... How could someone even begin to describle such angelical person? She was undoubtfully the cutest and sweetest person Rachel had ever met. Her looks were by far the one that matched the most with her personality. She had long blond hair with big soft curls and cute bangs, cyan blue eyes, white cheeks that were often spotted in shades of bright pink and some could say she was a bit chubby. To Rachel, her curves only accented her adorable qualities. She was always in a good mood, laughing and being the romantic fool she refered herself to be. Sometimes her other three friends just couldn't help it, they hugged her till she groaned in pain. She was that cute.

Michelle was drawing little hearts and butterflies next to her unfinished home work. Noticing Rachel's look on her, she looked up and smiled that enchanting smile of hers. Sometimes she reminded Rachel of a five years old. Rachel laughed. Then she looked at Gwen again. She had raised her head again to look at Rachel. Her uniform tie was loosen and her hair was a mess.

"You okay?", Rachel asked.

"Hmmmm, school sucks. I hate mondays" she whispered.

Rachel laughed and leaned against Gwen, who giggled. Helen looked at them and smiled, but quickly resumed copying the homework. Rachel turned her atention back to Helen.

"Your hair looks different"

"Caramel, you like it?"

"It goes with you"

"Thanks"

"You guys gotta do mine sometime"

Short silence followed.

"What are you guys doing tomorrow after school?" Rachel asked.

"I'm hunting an elephant, you?" Helen replied sarcastically, making the other girls laugh.

"Good, so you won't annoy us with your sarcastic comments" Gwen stepped in.

Helen smiled at Gwen.

"Don't we need a little sugar to easy this bitterness? Seriously, less coffee for breakfast"

"Seriously, shopping tomorrow" Rachel resumed.

"What's the ocasion?", Michelle asked.

"Er, do we need an ocasion to shop?", Rachel asked.

Helen and Michelle soon agreed, but Gwen was too engrossed on looking at her shoes to pay atention.

"Gwen?", Helen spoke louder.

"Yes?"

"You coming tomorrow?"

"Oh, sure, count me in".

Soon the bell rang and Helen still managed to copy the rest of the home work in time, just seconds before they entered a classroom together. The four of them pretty much had the same time table. English came first and it ended fairly quickly. All the girls had to do was sit through Mrs. Paris' nagging about the writing folio deadline, the following week. Of course neither had done a thing up till then, but they had time, they figured.

Fifty minutes after the first class had started, Rachel and Helen were beginning another class together, the form class. Everyday they'd sit there, read - or at least pretend to - and listen to the school news. Every tuesday they could skip the reading and just listen to the news so they could all go to assembly. However, the girls always made sure they all ran to the nearest mall to miss that. They simply hated having to stand up to the hypocrate and stuck up students who insisted on being elected school president.

"No Doubt or Macy Gray?" Helen said as she leaned back on her chair and picked up her discman.

Rachel threw her bag on the table next to her friend, on the last row.

"I don't know, what CDs?"

Helen rolled her eyes

"The one with 'ex-girlfriend' and the one with 'I try'"

"Hmmm, Macy Gray"

"Was that hard?" Helen mocked as she put the CD on.

Each took one ear phone and plugged them into their ears. Helen took the book she had been pretending to be reading since the beginning of the year, months ago. She opened it in an aleatory page. Aside from that, she didn't make any effort to try and pretend she was reading it.

If anyone asked her the title of the book, she would most likely miserably fail to answer. She could only recognise it in the pile of books because of the colorful cover. It always made her smile a little, she never knew exactly why. Ah, she knew the teacher was no stupid. Mr. Judkins was on his late fifties, friendly fellow with the girls. Sometimes he gave them lollipops and other goodies they did nothing to deserve.

"Hey, you wanna go out this weekend?" Helen asked Rachel. "I can't stand staying in anymore. Not after all the studying for the exams. I need to go out, it's serious!"

"Sure. Where do you wanna go?"

"Well, I was thinking we could make some fake IDs and get into a pub! How's that?"

"Fantastic, specially when my dad finds out!"

Helen shot Rachel a look.

"Oh, and it has to be after eight" Rachel continued. "There's gonna be this 'I love Lucy' special on t.v. saturday night and I'm thinking Michelle won't miss it for the world."

Helen looked at Rachel for a while, thoughtful.

"Any chance we can convince her it's a rumor?"

Rachel laughed.

-

During lunch break, the girls layed on the grass of the rugby fiel. Michelle was telling them about a romantic movie she'd seen on t.v. the day before. She never forgot the lines and would quote them herself, trying to repeat the same emotion. Helen and Rachel were smiling and laughing at Michelle's atempts. Gwen, however, was still looking down and ocasionally staring at a group of other people while the others chatted. They noticed it and tried to bring her into the converation a few times. Usucessfully. It was Michelle who eventually took a better shot.

"Gwen, sweetie, are you on?"

Gwen quickly looked at her and then shook her head, smiling very weakly.

"I'm just weird today...! Don't worry" She sighed and continued. "You know when you just wanna... disappear? Go home, lay down in bed and stay there till like next year? For no reason at all."

They all nodded.

"Well, get better"

Michelle stroked her shoulder.

"What did you girls do yesterday?", Gwen asked before giving a generous bite on her tunna sanduich.

"Barbecue at the church", Michelle answered first. "Had to help mom with all the food".

"That's the bad part of being a reverend's daughter. No offence, of course" Helen commented.

"None taken, it's truth. Even though I like those and all... they can be a bitch sometimes".

The other girls exchanged looks and burst into laughter, leaving Michelle confused and a little frustrated.

"Whaaaat? I can say bad words!", she kept whining.

"My dad made me go out with my cousins. I don't see the point, we all hate one another anyway!" Helen shook her head.

"Well, I was testing my webcam", Rachel answered last.

"The whole day?", Michelle asked weirdly.

"Yeah, kind of"

Helen smiled at her

"Hmmm, talking to whom?"

"You know, my friends from home... and Ross"

Helen loved seeing just how Rachel blushed whenever she simply pronounced his name.

"Ah, now I get it", Helen mocked.

"So, are you guys really still together?" Michelle asked.

"That's a hard question. I mean... we still talk everyday, we don't see other people. We uh, act like we're together so, hm, I'm thinking yes"

"How is he? Aw, that's so romantic", Michelle commented, little bit of jealousy mixed with the happiness she felt for her friend.

"To you, even a bug is romantic, Michelle" Gwen took her time to say it between her moments of deep silence.

"Hey!"

"Well, maybe if it's a cute pink one...!" Helen reasoned.

Rachel laughed and Michelle turned to her, waiting for a reply.

"He's good" Rachel shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what else to say.

"That's what you always say" Michelle complained.

"Well, what else do you want me to say?"

"I don't know...! Is he romantic?"

"Oh my God!" Helen cried out.

Michelle hit her and Rachel laughed harder.

"Yeah, he is, I guess..."

"Aw! Has he ever said he loved you?"

Rachel smiled.

"Yeah... we always do"

"Awww!!"

Helen hugged her legs, shooting them a funny look.

"Have you slept together?" Gwen looked up and asked.

Helen and Michelle looked at each other and the short silence that followed seemed to last forever. Rachel well knew that boys were not a topic very well discussed around those girls. Michelle and Helen both had always been raised around girls only and sex had never been a topic discussed by them. Somehow Rachel could tell. And she didn't know how to approach the matter, it all happened so quickly. She thought of the things the girls could possibly come to think of her when they knew it, considering things were so much different from their perspective.

"Yes" Rachel softly replied.

Michelle raised her eyebrows, Gwen nodded and Helen looked at her shoelaces.

"Wow, I didn't know that. Well, tell us, how was it??" Michelle asked.

Rachel smiled.

"You're curious today, you know that?"

"If she doesn't, I do" Helen barged in, looking up.

Rachel chuckled.

"It's... great. Ross is a very special guy"

"Awwww, that's so sweet!!"

"I'm outta here!" Helen joked, getting up. Michelle laughed and pulled her down.

"Sit down!!"

Rachel joined the laughter, glad to notice her piece of information aparently didn't affect anything. Then she looked at Gwen and saw she looked distant once again.

-------------------------

Gwen colapsed onto her bed, frustrated with the world, with herself, with just about everything. PMS, maybe, who knows? Still, she didn't know what to do. She felt this strong feeling inside herself and never knew exacty what it meant. Slowly, a single tear formed in her eyes and slowly rolled down her cheek. Before it could fall off her chin, she brushed it away with the back of her fingers.

As more of them followed, she gave up on preventing them from coming.

She took off the tough exterior mask and allowed herself to freely cry. But as much as she did it, she still felt as she could never catch up with all the tears she'd held back before. There was so much she'd left behind, she'd decided to ignore. But it'd been too long and ignoring the fact didn't ease the pain.

Rachel, she should talk to Rachel. If there was anyone in their tight little group that could listen to Gwen, it would be her. Maybe she'd understand, say things that would help. Maybe it was normal. And then maybe, just maybe, she'd stop feeling like such a freak...!

Michelle let her fingers lightly linger on the piano. It was a sad song. One she always played when she was down. She felt so lonely...

Being the romantic little girl she was, she couldn't help but always feel jealous when she heard nice stories about her friends and their guys. She'd never had one to tell. Only child, reverend's daughter, looked like she was 11 years old... fat! And it's not like she had an older brother like Gwen to introduce her his friends to. Or even like Helen, who had an older sister who knew everybody in town.

Sometimes she felt like everyone had an interesting life, like everyone was doing something while she just watched. Even though she was merely sixteen, she terribly feared the future because she believed nothing would ever happened to her. She envisioned herself old, in a rocking chair, knitting sweaters for her hundred cats.

While everyone had interesting personal things to say, all she could talk about was t.v.. And she turned to novels, songs and movies for the romance she had never had. "What a sad little life I have" she thought. "Who'd want a pathetic little girl like me? But Rachel? No, she's got her man. She's pretty, she's cool, she's interesting. I'm just Michelle, the silly baby of the group." With each thought, she convinced herself more and more that she was destined to be alone.

But it would pass. It always did. She had these moments when she thought she'd never find anyone, then she'd sink back into her fantasy world. One where her prince charming would come around and sweep her off her feet. He'd make her see that daydreaming is worth it and that good things happen to those who are patient and have a good heart, like hers. And that thought kept her warm. It helped her getting over the small things.

Meanwhile, Helen sat in front of her computer screen, her MSN open as she chatted with Rachel.

Rachel (homesick) says:  
"smelly cat, smelly cat, what are they feeding you? smelly cat, smelly cat, it's not your fault" lol!  
Helen - "...too cool to care" says:  
you sure had some weird friends back home!

She minimized the screen when an "you've got mail" sign came up on the left botton corner of her screen. She clicked on it.

Helen,  
Hey bitch, how are you? haha! Things have been pretty cool in the land down under! Australian guys are hotttt!! How are Michelle and Gwenny? Man, I miss them! And you too, hm, kinda! j/k! Well, sorry it's been a while since I've last e-mailed you, but things have been... busy, if you know what I mean (insert devilish/horny laugh). Yup, his name's Heath Ledger! Haha, I wish! Kidding, it's Rauph, although he prefers when I refer to him as "sex toy" (quite honestly, so do I!). haha, am I too slutty? Same old, same old..! Send news, I really miss you guys! Love,  
Sarah.

Helen closed the window, not bothering to reply her right away. She saw Rachel's minimised window blinking and sighed. "Great, just fucking great...! Now everybody's getting laid but me!" Having it rubbed to her face twice a day was just what she needed. She tried not to give a damn, but...

It seemed like she was growing up, but it didn't really feel like it. Girls younger than her had better social lives, had had way more boyfriends than her. She had nothing now. Not even a dream, a fantasy, like Michelle. So much for thinking of herself as a cool independent person...!

Rachel minimised Helen and maximised Ross.

Ross - geology rocks! says:  
OK, but before I go, I got a surprise for you  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
goodie! :D what is it?  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
I'll call you tomorrow and let you know  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
you will not! tell me now  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
later :P  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
Geller, dont you dare!  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
hahaha, this is fun  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
Ross Geller!  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
ok, ok... I'll call you now. stand by the phone, ok?  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
I will, cya  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
Cya  
Ross - geology rocks! says:  
love you  
Rachel (homesick) says:  
love you too :)

Rachel minimized the window with a smile on her face and approached her phone. Within second, it rang.

"Hey, sexy"

"Geez, how did you know it was me?"

"Getting old, Ross, getting old..."

He laughed.

"Sorry"

"Anyway, tell me, what's the big news??"

"Are you sitting?"

"Should I?"

"I don't know, it's just that people say that and-"

"Cut to your point, Ross"

"Right" he chuckled. "Well... You know how we both got a two week break coming up?"

"Yeah..."

"How would you feel about taking me sight seeing for a while?"

She smiled a huge smile and squealed in delight.

"I'd feel wonderful...! You really coming?"

"Just bought my tickets"

"Oh wow... this is so great..."

"I know!"

"Thank you..." were the most honest words she could think of.

Ross just chuckled on the other side. Rachel knew why, it was so endearing. Her saying 'thank you' for such thing seemed a bit controversial for him. He considered himself as the one receiving the bigger present.

"Wow, spring break... that's only like a week away" she commented.

"Yeah"

"Why didn't you tell me before??"

"I wanted to surprise you! But then again I knew I wouldn't stand the urge of telling you...! Besides, my parents just agreed to this, so..."

"Wow... Well... I'm glad you told me. This way I can hide my secret boyfriend from you!"

He chuckled.

"Funny"

"Aren't I?"

A soft silence followed.

"I miss you" he said. She smiled weakly, wishing she could be looking at him

"I miss you too..." her voice was barely audible.

Neither of them could stand another minute apart. The were teenagers, they had hormones driving them crazy, it was only normal. They missed each other's lips, each other's bodies or even just their sight, one that a picture couldn't replace. A simple hand to hold, a reasurring look, a natural voice, unlike the robotic one over the phone.

But they were closer now. They would spend two whole weeks together and it was going to be heaven. That thought kept them going, looking foward to time to rush past and then stand still.

--------------------------------------

I'm expecting reviews to see how you react to this... :) Oh, something else I forgot to say... I've never been to England. And I'm not great writing expressions, they always come out rather american! I'm truly basing this city Rachel's living in Christchurch (NZ), where I lived for a few months. People say it's the most british city in the world outside England, so!  
The quote in the beginning is from "Venus", by the Feelers (man, love that song!). For the record, I'm almost sure they're from New Zealand. Hm, I miss it there sometimes...!


	2. Chapter 2

**Venus**  
by Tina

------------------

---EDITED-  
Just to inform you guys that this chapter has been edited. Not much over all, but things I felt that sounded better this way. More information about it can be found in the beginning of the 4th chapter.

------------------

Rachel came out of the dressing rooms in what seemed to be the millionth outfit she was trying on at that single store.

"Tah-dah!" she posed. "How does that look?"

Michelle and Helen stopped looking at the exposed clothes to look. Michelle applauded and Helen smiled. Gwen was sitting on a couch, practicly falling asleep.

"Pretty, as were all of the others" Helen commented.

"Aw, I wish I was thin like you. Everything suits you, Rach" Michelle said.

Rachel rolled her eyes.

"Things look great on you too, Michelle"

Michelle sighed.

"Yeah, right"

Uncomfortable with discussing the matter of appearance, Rachel shifted her atention.

"Gwen?"

"Just fantastic" she didn't even bother to open her eyes.

"Yeah? What about the color, huh?" Rachel tried to trick her.

"Do I really have to keep on pretending I care?" she finally opened her eyes. "I'm hungry. Uh, that looks nice!"

Rachel chuckled.

"Thanks! And, OK, sorry, I'll just get this thing off and we can grab something to eat." she entered her stall and quickly exited it. "What do you guys feel like having? I'm on a diet..."

"Yeeah, me too"

"C'mon, Michelle." Gwen playfully hit her and she giggled. "And you" she pointed at Rachel. "Shut up! I want a fat burger with greasy cheese spilling on the sides! And you guys are having it too"

Rachel and Michelle looked at each other and shrugged.

"You gotta do what you gotta do...!"

"Yeah, if that's the rule..!"

They giggled.

After Rachel paid for her things, they all headed to the nearest snack place. On the way to it, Gwen saw a puddle on the sidewalk and seized the oportunity. She jumped hard into it and the others ran away, screaming. Amused, Gwen laughed.

"Gwen!!!" Michelle shouted from behind a pole. "Stop it!"

"It's just water, you guys!"

"Dirty water" Rachel corrected, with a smile upon her face. Gwen thought she'd be the most upset of them over her misbehavior. Yet, Rachel didn't look too bothered. In fact, the whole day she wore this never ending, never tiring smile.

"What's up with you, Green?"

"What do you mean?"

"You just look... happy"

"Yeah" the others agreed, realising the truth behind Gwen's statement.

"What's wrong with that?" Rachel chuckled.

"Nothing wrong. Just unusually happy...! Thought there was a reason behind it, that's all."

"OK, so maybe there is..."

"This is the part when you explain it" Gwen rolled her eyes and Rachel laughed.

"Ross is coming over for spring break"

"Really? Wow"

The three girls spilled out a few supporting words.

"So we finally get to meet the famous Ross in like, whoa, a week!"

"Nah, I'm afraid I'll have to keep him from you guys. He's not used to being around many girls like this"

"Yeah, right!!"

Gwen jumped into yet another puddle and the girls laughed and ran away and into Burger King, leaving her outside cracking up by herself. After a second, she joined them inside.

"Wow, kinda packed, huh?" Helen noticed.

The place was filled with students from other schools, which they could tell because of the uniforms they were all still wearing. The four girls looked at each other and understood just what the others were thinking. They wished they could all rip off the school emblema off their chest. There was something about their traditionally famous and fancy school uniform that never atracted good looks from other kids.

Snapping out of it, Gwen took of her sweater and threw it over to Rachel.

"You guys go find us a table. Michelle and I will take the orders" she winked at them.

After the sweaters had been removed and the orders taken, the girls split. Rachel and Helen found a table on the back and took a seat.

"I'm cold now..." Rachel whined.

On the long line, Michelle and Gwen waited as they counted their money.

"OK, this is Rachel's money" she handed Gwen a few bills. "She'll have that chicken burger and diet coke with a lot of ice. This is Helen's" she handed Gwen some more bills and coins "She's having-" Michelle stopped talking when she realised Gwen had mixed the money. "Gwen, don't do that, don't mix them! C'mon, we need to get the change just right. Now, I think Rachel gave me a five and three ones, Helen-"

Gwen rolled her eyes and cut her.

"Michelle?"

"Yeah?"

"Zip it"

Michelle shot her a look and Gwen laughed. She pulled her friend quickly into a hug.

"You are soooo cute!!"

Michelle groaned.

"I'm so dying my hair green tomorrow"

Gwen let her go.

"You'll just look cuter"

They stepped up as the line slowly walked a bit.

"OK, what is it that Helen wants again?"

"Hm... I've... forgotten"

"Way to go"

"Hey, you're the genious! I'll go ask her.. I'll be right back"

Michelle approached the table.

"Helen, what is it that you want again?"

"Want me to write it down?"

Michelle shot her a look and sat down.

"Man, I'm tired."

"Stay, I'll go"

Michelle flashed her a friendly smile.

"Thanks. Gwen's got my money, sort of. I want the Cheeseburger special with diet coke"

Helen stood up and rolled her eyes.

"Oh, you guys..! As if the diet coke would make a difference!"

She left. Rachel sighed and Michelle looked at her. Yup, the smile was still there.

"Hey, so, that's so great about you and Ross. You must be really happy"

"I am... I know I don't say this enough because I don't wanna be a pain on the ass for you guys, but... I really miss him"

"I can imagine... Must be nice to have a boyfriend"

"Yeah, but it's tough when he's so far away..."

"Still..."

Rachel looked at her and her smile became sweeter.

"The thing with you Michelle is that I don't think just any guy will be good enough for you." Michelle frowned. "No, I mean, you're just too good for these stupid little boys...! Take it from me, I used to date them and they'd hurt me so much... And then I finally found Ross and... It'll just happen when you least expect, I promise you."

"Hah, thing is, I'm always expecting it! Maybe that's why it'll never happen!"

"Oh, honey, I just hope you understand how great of a catch you are"

Michelle smiled at the truthfulness she felt in Rachel's voice. She could almost believe her.

"Thanks, Rach" she sincerely responded.

"Damn it, what is taking this so long?" Gwen looked ahead and noticed there was a girl taking a thousand orders at the same time. "Oh fuck, look at that, Helen!"

"Yeah, they just ruin it for the others, huh?" she sarcastically replied holding up the other girls' money.

Gwen rolled her eyes. As she did so, she noticed there was guy behind them on the line was looking intently at her. First thing she noticed was his pierced left eyebrow. She quickly looked away, but when she looked back, he was still looking. He smiled at her. There was something about him that made her smile back.

"Which approach do you think it's the safest? The weather or the lenght of this line?" he asked her.

She chuckled.

"I'm not gonna give you hints...! Take a shot!"

Helen turned around to see what was going on. She noticed the pierced guy - atractive, very tall, dark hair, blue eyes, looked very interesting in a smart and yet outgoing kind of way. 'Damn, Gwen's found her soulmate' she thought to herself. There was another guy standing next to him. He had honey colored hair, green eyes, silky looking white skin. 'Oh, cutest guy on Earth allert!'. But he just stood there.

"OK, then, let's see... Full house, huh? Must be the weather outside, it's been 'oddly' rainy lately, huh?"

"Nice touch"

Helen stood there, uncertain as to what she should do. She'd never really seen Gwen interact like that with an unknown guy before.

"You two by yourselves?" the pierced guy went on.

"No, two other friends are saving us a table"

"Cool, we also came with a bigger group. Think we could maybe gather everyone up?"

"Maybe"

He smiled.

"I'm Jason, by the way. This is my friend Cameron"

"Hey. I'm Gwen and this is Helen"

They all said hello, shaking their heads politely. After all the orders had been taken, they tried getting everyone together in two big tables they managed to get, one right next to the other. Jason and Cameron's gang consisted on two girls, Jackie and Gabrielle, and another guy, Danny. Helen quickly took a seat next to Rachel and noticed the look on Cameron's eyes when they landed on Michelle.

He managed to sit next to her. She was startled and confused when he started talking. As the first few words had been exchanged she looked at Rachel, who smiled at her. She smiled back, still taken aback. Was this what she'd been waiting for all of those years?

"Where do you girls study again?" he asked her.

"Linwood." she couldn't read his expression, but still, out of habit, felt the need to go on. But she was nervous. God, she was nervous, as if any bad choice of words could screw things up. "We're not like that though"

He smiled at her.

"Like that what?"

"You know... Linwoody!"

Cameron laughed and she smiled.

"Right... I get what you mean. You girls really seem very unique"

Michelle looked at her friends and smiled.

"We really are" she blushed.

His hand covered hers on top of the table and she blushed even more. Oh my God... she was about to be sick.

James laughed hard at the joke Gwen had just told. And not just 'cause he was trying to impress her. That girl was really something...!

"The Doors, really?"

"I swear to God"

"Wow..." he just admired her for a while. "Hey, you guys should come to this little party we're throwing saturday night."

Cameron heard his friend.

"Oh yeah, you should totally come"

"What kind of a party, exactly?" Gwen questioned.

"Not much, we'll just have some music and some people and some food and stuff. No drugs or anything like that, I promise"

"Sounds fun, we'll be there"

"Speak for yourself" no one noticed the grumpiness on Helen's voice. "Gotta check at home"

"C'mon, your parents are cool about it, I know it. We should be worried about Michelle"

Michelle shrugged.

"Actually, all of those times I said my parents wouldn't let me were simply because I didn't want to go" she giggled.

"OK, see, even Michelle wants to go"

Rachel had to laugh.

"You girls coming, right? C'mon" Jackie asked Rachel, who grabbed Helen's hand.

"We're all going"

"Don't you have a boyfriend's photo to be staring at all night?" Helen hissed.

"Don't start"

"OK, fine, I'll go. Now can we please go home? I got some home work to do"

"As if you are not gonna copy it from me tomorrow morning" Gwen rolled her eyes. "But yeah, it's late, we should get going"

The girls started getting up and gathering their things.

"So I'll be seeing you on saturday?" Cameron asked Michelle.

"You bet"

"Can I... Can I get your phone number now? I might not be able to wait that long"

Michelle didn't know what to say for a moment.

A few minutes later, the four girls were making their way to the bus stop. They were silent. Michelle was still in a daze, having trouble to believe herself what had just happened. Helen was looking down. Rachel had a smile on her face and Gwen looked devilish. After another silent second, she jumped into a new puddle and the others didn't have time to react.

"Gwen!!!!"

---------------------------------

lol, little note to Mel.. yeah, I guess you did read too much into Mr. Judkins! But the other day I re-read that part and felt weird about him myself! lol. That did not come out right. But it's nothing, the guy's just a nice guy. In fact, I'm basing that character in my form teacher from NZ, really. Mr. Judkins, ah, nice guy! I miss the candies :D And the books I pretended to read... lol! And thanks for the review! ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Venus**  
by Tina

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Rated R for sexual content! And language, probably.

---EDITED-  
Just to inform you guys that this chapter has been edited. Not much over all, but things I felt that sounded better this way. More information about it can be found in the beginning of the 4th chapter.

---------------------

Saturday after lunch, Michelle called Gwen. Still sleeping. Helen, not in the mood for anything. She finally called Rachel.

"Rach?"

"Hey, Michelle, what's up?"

"Hm, I was just wondering if you'd like to go shopping with me?"

"And do you even have to ask?" Rachel heard Michelle chuckle. "I'll meet you at the bus stop in thirty minutes?"

"I'll be there"

-

Rachel looked through the hangers. Michelle watched her from a good distance, lost in thought. Rachel held out a pale pink sweater.

"This will look great on you"

Michelle smiled and took it.

"You know... I was, kinda, weird about calling you and all 'cause we've never really hung out just the two of us and stuff... But I'm glad I did"

Rachel smiled back.

"I'm glad you called me too"

Michelle sat down on a chair in the middle of the store, quiet. Rachel understood. This wasn't about shopping. She sat down next to her.

"Hey, so... has Cameron called you?"

"Yeah"

"And...?"

"I don't know? We just talked."

"He seems to really like you" Rachel's smile became sweeter.

"He really does, I can't believe it"

Rachel chuckled.

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that last remark! So, you excited about tonight?"

"That's the thing, I'm... scared"

Rachel raised her eyebrows.

"Why?"

"Because...!" she looked at Rachel, her cheeks warming up. "I know this sounds silly, it's not that I'm scared of boys, but... Oh, I'm just... I don't know, Rach...! I'm not one of those girls who used to play spin the bottle or who have had boyfriends or just random flings, I..." Rachel looked down, but not ashamed. She was that kind of girl. "I've never kissed a guy before" There, said it.

"Really?" Michelle just nodded. "Oh, honey, that's ok"

"No, it's not ok! Now I'm scared of what's gonna happen tonight and it's stupid! I'm pathetic! It's all I've wanted since I can remember anything!"

"Honey, it has to happen sometime, shouldn't matter when, just how. And everyone's aprehensive about their first kiss"

"Really? Were you?"

Rachel tried to remember her first kiss.

"Hm, almost everyone..!"

Michelle shot her a look and took the chance to lighten things up.

"You're not helping" she said with a funny look on her face.

Rachel laughed.

"Michelle, see... I was much too young to take my first kiss seriously. It was stupid and imature and now when I look back, sometimes I wish I had made something special out of it. But it happened, it's past and you just move on...!"

"Do you wish you'd waited and let Ross be your first kiss?"

Rachel smiled.

"Things happened like that for a reason for me, Michelle. But then again... that would have been nice... Ross is an amazing kisser. Much rather prefer have him than Brian Johnson biting on my lips!"

Michelle's faint smile faded.

"Now I'm scared I'm not gonna kiss well enough!"

Rachel covered her hand.

"You'll get the hang of it after the first few ones, I swear."

Michelle covered her stomach.

"Urgh, the thought of it seems disgusting now"

Rachel laughed.

"Oh, I'm not gonna lie to you, it's... icky at first" Michelle just looked sicker. "But once you... feel it... hmm, you'll never want to stop it"

Michelle looked down, thoughtful, for a long time.

"Hey" she looked up at Rachel. "You're gonna do fine. But if you don't wanna do this, then don't. Don't do anything because others expect it from you, Michelle...! I've done it in the past and I can tell you it was honestly the biggest mistake of my life. If you're gonna do this, do it for yourself." She waited a few moments as Michelle absorved her words. "Now, do you want to do this?" Michelle nodded. Rachel smiled. "Good. Now go try this on, you're gonna look amazing tonight!"

----------------

It was 8:30 when both Michelle and Rachel arrived at Gwen's house, her brother would drive them to the party. Michelle was wearing a light colored pair of jeans, a t-shirt with a fairy on it and the pale pink zip up sweater Rachel had picked out for her. Rachel was wearing an acid washed old looking jeans and a black - rather conservative - shirt. She didn't want to atract many looks. She was saving the good stuff for Ross' arrival.

Gwen was in bed watching t.v..

"You're not ready yet??"

Gwen rolled her eyes at Rachel.

"It takes me five minutes to get ready. Better wait till Helen gets here"

"No, no, Miss! You go get ready and we'll call Helen"

"Who are you and what have you done to Michelle?!"

Michelle giggled as Gwen went into her closet. Rachel got the phone and dialed Helen's number.

"Hey, where are you? What do you mean home?? We're waiting for you so we can leave. Yeah, Gwen's getting ready already, so aparently you have five minutes to get here! What do you mean you're not coming??"

Michelle gasped.

"She's not coming??"

Rachel rolled her eyes, listening to Helen.

"I don't care, put something on and come!"

Michelle grabbed the phone from Rachel.

"Helen Lamont, get your ass in here before we march down there to get you!"

Rachel laughed.

Thirty minutes later, Helen arrived. Her look was probably the most casual of all. She was wearing plain blue jeans and a Rauph Lauren sweater, while Gwen wore black blants, an 'I heart me' shirt and a jeans jacket. Helen's hair was up in a ponny tail and Gwen's was messy. Neither cared, for different reasons.

As Gwen's brother Patrick pulled over, the girls quickly hopped off the car and comtemplated the house. It was big and despite the fact the music that waved from there was not too loud, it was very tasteful.

"You girls behave! No drinking!!" Patrick's voice was mocking.

On their way to the front door, Gwen didn't even bother to turn around to give her brother the finger. She did it with her back turned to him.

Ding-Dong!

Jackie opened the door.

"Oh, hey, girls, glad you made it! Come in!" they entered the house. "Guys, the girls are here!" she shouted.

In a matter of seconds, Cameron and Jason approached.

"You came!"

"Were we not supposed to?" Gwen teased back.

In a quick and blury kind of way they disappeared with Michelle and Gwen. Helen and Rachel approached a sitting area with Jackie. Gabrielle and Danny were already there, among with other people they didn't know.

"Guys, this is Rachel and that's Helen. We met them the other day at Burger King"

Just then, Rachel's cell phone beeped.

"Oh, excuse me"

She took it out of her purse and smiled.

"What is it?" Helen asked.

"Oh, nothing, just an SMS from Ross..."

"Rachel's just recently moved in from New York" Jackie explained to the others.

"So is Ross a boyfriend from home or...?" a guy said flirty to her.

She exchanged looks with Helen.

"Yeah, my boyfriend"

"But he's not here right now, is he?"

"If this is your idea of a move..." Rachel made a negative sign with her index finger.

"What do you think he's doing back on the US, girl?"

"Seriously, you're insisting?!" Rachel was losing her temper.

"Fine, sorry..!" the guy held his hands up.

"No more vodka for you, Liam" Jackie took away his glass. "Sorry, Rachel, he can be a bloody ass sometimes"

"It's fine"

Only it wasn't... His question bothered her more than she thought she could take.

-

Jason and Gwen were in some sort of music room. Gwen was scaning through the CDs with her finger tips sliding down the pile while Jason was putting on a CD. They'd been talking for a while now, flirting and just having a good time. Within seconds, the familiar guitar intro to a song she very much loved started playing. She turned to him and smiled.

Kurt Cobain did the speaking for them.

"Come as you are, as you were,  
As I want you to be  
As a friend, as a friend, as an old enemy  
Take your time, hurry up  
The choice is your, don't be late  
Take a rest as a friend as an old memorie..."

"You know..." Jason began. "I feel like I've known you for ages."

She smiled.

"Yeah, me too"

He took her hand and brought her closer. She closed the distance between them with no complains. He stroked her hair. She watched his face approaching till it reached a certain distance and then she closed her eyes. She felt his lips on hers. He softly kissed her botton lip. Next, he kissed her deeper and she opened her mouth so he could slip his tongue inside.

He held her gently, his arms around her shoulders. Her hands were on his waist and she pulled him closer.

She deepened the kiss. It was hungry, passionate and she could tell he was heating up. She could feel it, pressed up against her. Before he could pull away to hide it - Gwen well knew Jason was the respectful kind of guy, he'd want to make sure nothing had to happen if she didn't want to - she let her hands slide down to his butt and rubbed it sensually.

He backed them down onto the couch, she on top of him. She started unbuttoning his pants, but stopped when she noticed he was trying to retrieve something from his pocket. A condom. After he was done, she resumed her task. They didn't have time to remove all of their clothes. Gwen took off her jacket, her pants and panties. While she removed his boxers, he played with her. Gwen moaned with her eyes tightly shut and rubbed herself harder against his hands.

Once the condom had been put on, he entered her and she held on to him, groaning as millions of thoughts rushed through her head.

How was that gonna make things better? It proved to be a plan doomed to failture, in the past... This time wouldn't be any different. But, for now, it was the best she could come up with. Hah... little genious at school and such a dumb ass when it comes to boys. Oh, all the wrong decisions.

Jason entered her each time quicker, each time harder, untill he couldn't hold it any longer. He came and relaxed all of the muscles in his body he could control. Gwen remained on top of him for a while, legs wrapped around him. Tears flowing unnoticed to him.

-

Michelle and Cameron were walking around the pool. He was holding her hand and she nervously wondered if he could feel just how sweaty it was. They've been talking and talking for what seemed to be ages. She knew he was everything she had always looked for in a boyfriend. He was smart, sweet, sensitive, funny... and he also went to an all boys school. For some reason, that made a difference for Michelle. At some points she could almost feel he too was nervous to be around a member of the opposite sex.

"...and we met because Jason goes to school with the others and his mom and mine are really good friends. We used to hate each other's guts when we were younger though. I was the little fragile boy and he was the punk trouble maker, if you know what I mean."

Michelle giggled.

"Sounds like Gwen and me. Once when we were 6 we were sent to the principal's office because I finally got sick of her pulling on my piggy tails and said that those who mess with reverend's daughters go straight to hell. She was really upset, she even cried. And when it comes to Gwen, that's something you don't get to see many times!"

Cameron laughed.

"You're just a little girl full of surprises, aren't you?"

She smiled.

"I guess I am"

He looked at her for a while and she just knew he was trying to think of a good thing to say to try and get a chance to kiss her. Her heart was pounding, she was almost scared he was going to hear it. He stopped walking and so did she.

"By now it's no surprise that I like you, right, Michelle?"

"I guess..." she shrugged, adoringly.

"Well, I do."

Her mind raced. Was she supposed to say it back?

"I- I like you too"

He came closer. 'OK, ready or not...' she thought to herself.

"You do?"

She nodded. He smiled brightly and she nervously smiled back. His hand let go of hers to rest on her waist, while she held his arms. He caressed her there and looked into her eyes. Slowly, he closed his and leaned closer. She quietly panicked and closed hers.

His lips found hers. He kissed her gently, softly. Michelle didn't know what to do. She tried her best to kiss him back, but all the while she couldn't stop thinking how... weird that feeling was. 'Oh, damn it, am I biting him?' Michelle couldn't stop thinking about her conversation with Rachel. It calmed her down and terrified her more at the same time.

He broke away and she opened her eyes. His were still closed. He tilted his head to another side and kissed her again. She closed her eyes, nervous. Oh, she was so pathetic... That whole scene was so pathetic, she thought. At least he looked like he was nonetheless still enjoying it. Man, boys are sure weird!

She felt his tongue brushing onto her lips and so she confusedly parted them. The little intruder explored inside and looked for hers to play with. She let them caress each other, too busy thinking how big her mouth seemed to be to actually enjoy it.

They finally broke and he smiled at her. She smiled back, uncomfortable, not knowing what to say. She self-conciously wiped the corner of her lips, still moist with his saliva, with the sleeve of her sweater.

Talking and kissing were all they did that night.

-

Rachel stared at the text message Ross had sent her a couple of hours before while the others talked on the background.

"Hey Rach! Just a few days to go now, can't believe how much I miss you. Monica, Chandler, Phoebe, Joey and Clare are saying hello. Love you. Ross"

Where were they that moment? Did that mean they were all together somewhere? Having fun, just like they did when she was there? Sometimes ignoring the fact life went on back in Long Island helped her facing the days in England. Yet somehow it always came back to bite her in the ass!

She called him. After a few rings, he picked it up.

"Hi sweetie"

"Hey you..." she melted.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay. You?"

"Just the same..."

"What are you doing?"

"Out with the guys"

"Oh..."

"You're being missed"

"Sure..."

He could feel the sadness in her voice.

"Hey, I'll be there on friday. Just six days to go...!"

"I can't wait that long"

He sighed.

"I'm sorry, there's nothing you can do" she quickly added. She didn't want to bother him, but it just seemed like too much.

"I wish there was. I'd do anything for you, you know that, right?"

"I do"

"Good"

"Just tell me you miss me, then"

"Oh, Rach, of course I do. I miss you so much, sometimes I don't think I can make it through another day!"

She smiled, though she was teary eyed and her heart was shrinking.

"Never ever doubt that, ok?"

"OK... It's just... this guy was saying, well, basicly that I was naive to think you wouldn't be enjoying yourself there"

"Rach... you know that's not me"

"Yeah, I know"

"And I hope you got his name and adress, because once I'm there I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Rachel laughed.

"You always manage to make me laugh, don't you?"

"I'm serious, Rach, I-"

"Ross?" she cut him.

"Yeah?"

"I love you"

"I love you too.."

"Now I better hang up... Dad's gonna kill me for this"

"Tell her you were calling Monica or he might just use this as an alibi and kill me too"

Rachel chuckled.

"Well, if he needs a reason to kill you, let it be for the things you'll do to me once you get here!"

She giggled and heard him chuckle in surprise.

"Rachel...!"

"OK, better hang up now"

"Right"

"Bye"

"Bye, honey"

She hung up with a refreshly recharged smile on her face.

-

Helen was exploring the house. Long ago she'd gotten bored of everything and just wished they'd all get enough of what they'd come there to get so they could go home earlier. Her sister was supposed to pick them up and they'd set a time, but she certainly wouldn't mind to be picked up sooner. She looked at her watch, it was almost midnight. Michelle's parents had stablished she should be home by 12:30am, so it wouldn't be much longer untill they could leave. Thankfully.

She opened doors that always led to empty rooms. She had already paid a visit to the t.v. room, the dining room, two bathrooms and a private gym. She'd learned the house to be Jackie's, her parents had made a fortune over the last few years in the advertising business. Yet Jackie seemed to remain the simple girl Helen figured she should have been before. Simple was indeed the word to define her, thought Helen.

The next door she opened revealed something Helen didn't expect. It was a game room and a big pool table was placed at the center of it. Sitting on top of it was a girl Helen didn't recognise. In front, kissing the unknown girl wihth fierce passion, was Jackie.

Helen gasped outloud and it was only then the girls realised they had company and pulled apart.

"Oh, uh, I'm- I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I-"

"Wait, Helen!"

Jackie's words stopped Helen from walking away. The other girl hopped off the table, embarassed.

"I'll see you girls around later"

She made a quick escape. Helen stood there, uncertain. Jackie looked at her.

"Look, it's no big deal. I-"

"Hey, no, it's- it's okay, I'm totally cool with that, really"

"Just... don't tell anyone, please?"

"Sure, I- I won't tell"

Jackie sighed.

"Really, Helen, it's no big deal, relax, ok? So I like being with girls sometimes!"

"You don't owe me explanations! Now if you would just tell me where the bathroom is..."

Jackie just stared at her for a while.

"Fine, I'll look for it myself!"

Helen walked away, but Jackie chased her.

"Helen!"

"What?!" Helen turned around.

"I just wanna tell you that I'm not a lesbian! Please don't tell!"

"Are you kidding me?? Then what the hell were you just doing in there?" Helen completely disregarded the fact she'd just recently met Jackie.

"I like being with girls sometimes, what's the big deal? I like guys too, this is just for fun, they know it! I don't see anything wrong with that!"

"Then why can't I tell anyone?"

"'Cause not everyone can open their minds to the possibility that it doesn't fucking matter!" Helen watched as Jackie paced around a bit. "If you ask me, this whole love bullshit is way overrated and I hate the fact I'm supposed to somehow just fit in this little plan that I didn't even have a say in!"

Helen sat down on a couch, frustrated herself.

"Tell me about it...!"

Jackie looked at her and smiled weakly.

"So I guess you do know what I mean"

"You could say that again"

Jackie sat on the pool table across from Helen.

"So, can you keep it a secret?"

"Sure..."

"Thanks"

"Mind if uh... Mind if I ask you how did this happen?"

"Gabrielle. One time like a year ago we got drunk and... well, you know"

"Wow"

"Promise not to tell anyone what I'm about to tell you?"

Helen smiled, curious.

"Sure!"

"We have a little... tight group... who gets together once in a while. Boys and girls."

"Wow. Isn't it... risky though?"

Jackie rolled her eyes.

"We're not stupid!"

Helen thought for a while.

"What are you thinking?" Jackie questioned.

Helen looked at her and blushed.

"Just... how sometimes I can't help but... wonder"

Jackie laughed a girlish laugh.

"Honey, I think at least once in a while everyone does. But not everyone has what it takes to actually do it"

"True"

The girls kept looking at each other intently for a very long time. Jackie knew Helen didn't want to say it. At this point things just seem wrong and playing a victim's role seems like the easiest way to face the new experience. So she stood up and sat next to Helen. She moved one of her hands up Helen's left tigh untill she heard her sigh. They looked at each other again and Jackie kissed her.

Kissing another girl was so much different than kissing a boy. And then again... it wasn't. Jackie's lips were soft, her face was so smooth, her hands gentler than those of any guy that had ever touched her. She tasted fantastic. The sensual breathing sounds started turning her on, but before she could get carried away...

"Helen!!! Helen, where are you?? Your sister's here!!" came Gwen's shouts from outside.

The girls pulled away.

"I- I gotta go" Helen breathlessly said.

"Ok"

"We'll... talk later?"

"You bet" Jackie smiled at her.

Smiling back, Helen left.

-

"Where were you??" questioned Rachel the minute Helen reached the doorway. The girls were all there waiting, Michelle holding hands with Cameron and Gwen near Jason.

"Hm, entertaining myself. Now, let's go!"

Cameron pulled Michelle closer.

"I'll call you tomorrow"

"OK"

He kissed her and Rachel watched it from the corner of her eyes. Seems Michelle had got the hang of it! Oh, how she missed that...!

Jason gently atempted to get Gwen's hand, but she pulled it away, cooly.

"I'll see ya some other time" she told him and tried her best not to feel devastated for causing that look he now bore on his face. She failed her task. She practicly had to crawl her way to the car for her conscience was too heavy.

They all said their goodbyes and the girls approached the car. It was amazing to see how many feelings mixed in that tiny little vehiacle.

"How was the party, girls?"

"Great / Good / Fine"

Those adjectives would never be accurate enough to define that evening.

---------------------------------------

Hmmm. Yeah. Feeling kinda weird here. Sincerely hope you like it... I'll develop things with time, don't worry. I realise this is coming out way too quickly. It's supposed to be this way, really!  
Now... reviews?? :D


	4. Chapter 4

**Venus**  
by Tina

**Rated R** for sexual content! Very sexual, I must warn.

**Important Author's Note:** Hey guys! Just wanna say the three previous chapters have been edited. It's a long story, but, basicly, let's just say I've found the very first draft of this and thought some of the old stuff was really good. They captured a lot out of the characters...! But maybe a little too much sometimes. So I kept some of the impersolnality from this version! It's nothing that will REALLY change the course of the story, but it does give you a better insight of the characters. Or so I hope!

* * *

The next day, the girls were hanging out the beach together. It was cold, they were just around because since it was a sunny day they knew everyone would rush their way there. A sunny sunday at the beach was always fun. There were kids toddling towards the sea followed by desperate mothers or builting castles on the sand, some brave people surfing in the freezing sea and youngsters hanging out by the bars along the beach.

Rachel and Michelle had gone to an ice cream parlor together, leaving Gwen and Helen hanging out on the sidewalk. Gwen was sitting on the floor and Helen was pacing around her, a thoughtful look on her face.

"What's up Helen?"

"What?"

"You're just... different. Did anything happen?"

Helen kept looking at her friend and didn't know what to say. She thought for a while... Gwen was cool, she was the most open minded girl she knew. Mabe she could tell her.

"Maybe?"

Knowing Helen was up to something, Gwen patted down on a spot next to her. Helen sat down.

"Spill the beans"

"Alright... But you cannot tell anyone!"

"Okay, now I'm worried. Why not?"

"You'll understand once I tell you. Just promise"

"Not even the girls?"

"Nope, specially them. Not for now, anyway"

"Okay, fine, I promise. Now tell me"

"Okay... you know how I was gone last night for a bit, right before my sister came to pick us up?"

"Yeah?"

"Well... I wasn't alone"

"Okay?" Gwen motioned for her to go on again.

Helen raised her eyebrows suggestively and Gwen finally understood.

"Ohhh! With whom? And why can't I tell the girls?"

"Tell us what!" Rachel asked from behind, holding her ice cream. Helen shot Gwen a look and she whispered "sorry" back.

"Nothing, just some stuff to do with Sarah. She sends me the most horrible e-mails, telling me me just about every minor detail about her and her boyfriend, if you know what I mean. And, you know, since I know you don't like it when we talk about people you don't know, just thought we'd stay out of that subject. Besides, it's not really important!"

Helen amazed Gwen with her capacity to make up a lie so quickly. And such a good lie! But, actually, that wasn't completely a lie, she did get those horrid e-mails...!

"Aw, that's sweet, Helen, thanks. But that's fine, you can talk about it. Just as long as that's not all you talk about, I'm not gonna get mad."

Helen gave her a half smile and got up, being followed by Gwen. The latter kept looking at Helen curiously, still trying to figure out who could have been that had hooked up with her friend the previous night.

"What do you guys wanna do now?" Helen asked them. When she looked at Gwen, she smiled devilishly.

"Why don't you girls go to the pier while Helen and I go get some chips? I'm getting kinda hungry now" Gwen suggested.

"Sure"

Quickly, Rachel and Michelle left. Gwen watched them to make sure they got to a safe distance, all the while thinking how those two had lately become really close friends. Thinking about it, it actually bothered her a bit. There was this boy thing now that linked them together. As much as she wanted, she couldn't bring herself to share that with them.

As soon as they were far enough, Gwen turned to face Helen, who was still smiling.

"OK, now, tell me, who was it?"

"You'll never guess!"

"Kinda why I asked!" Gwen replied, getting annoyed.

"You're not gonna believe it"

"Try me"

"OK, look... Before I say anything, I wanna tell you a few things. First, this is just not too much of a big deal and I'm actually happy about that! I don't want anyone making a fuss because it's just silly...! It's not like I wanna change anything because of it at all! So, well, don't judge me. The reason why I'm telling you is because I think you're the most open minded person I know, so I trust you on this, alright?"

Gwen kept looking at her.

"OK, totally confused here, but uh... Sure, go on, I'm not gonna judge or anything. Not if it makes you happy"

"OK, hm... It was Jackie"

Helen waited for Gwen's reaction. Instead, Gwen remained silent for a while.

"Who's Jackie?"

"You know... The guys' friend..." Gwen still looked lost. "She's a girl, Gwen"

Gwen went silent once again, not knowing what to say.

"Oh... OK..." was all she said at first, softly. "So you guys are having a thing?" she asked, curiously.

"No. I mean... kinda. Nothing serious, she doesn't actually date girls, she just... fools around with them." Helen tried to remember all the things Jackie had told her that made sense to try and repeat them to Gwen.

"And is that what you want? To fool around with other girls?" Gwen tried her best to sound careful.

"Maybe. Look, it's nothing serious, I just wanna have some fun, you know? No one's gonna know, I just wanna do something wild! Or at least something!"

"Then ride a fucking roller coaster, Helen!"

Helen shot her a look.

"OK, look," Gwen began "I'm fine with this. Just... don't tell me you're doing this to be wild. Wanna do it? Fine. But think about it!"

"I have, Gwen."

"Good"

"I just... I had fun last night, you know? I haven't had fun like that in a while"

"Then..." Gwen shook her head. "Enjoy... I guess. I'm OK with it as long as you're aware of what you're doing and take care. You could aswell be doing it with a guy, you know it's all the same to me, I don't have a problem with that."

Helen smiled at her, sincerely glad she had someone who understood and respected her like that.

"Thanks, Gwen."

"Now let's go get some chips or the others might get suspecious. C'mon."

* * *

The next week went by really quick. It was their last week at school before spring break, but they didn't have much to do. So they focused in their lives. Michelle was still beginning her relationship with Cameron. He called her everyday, but they hadn't seen each other since the party. Jackie had called Helen and both were supposed to meet on thursday after school. Being the only one who knew, Gwen was getting kind of full of hearing about it, but held her peace. For some reason, she was beginning to feel uncomfortable with the whole scenario. So unlike her. Rachel... she just couldn't wait untill friday finally came. Ross was arriving on the afternoon and the girls would go and pick him up after school.

Thursday, Michelle went over to Rachel's house, just to hang out and talk. Rachel ended up showing her all the packages Ross had sent her and some pictures of her life back in America. Didn't take too long untill he called and Michelle even exchanged a few words with him. After they hung up, all Michelle could think about was if she'd ever feel the way Rachel felt. First, the problem was finding a boyfriend. Now that she had someone, she just had to feel something. Was there always going to be something missing? "Maybe it will come around, eventually..."

Meanwile, Gwen was at Helen's while she got ready for... her 'thing' with Jackie, as Gwen had decided to define for the lack of a better word. She was clearily not all that happy being there, but then again she'd feel a whole lot worse being at Rachel's. "At least here I'm included at the conversation..." Besides, if it wasn't for her, Helen would be all alone in this. Gwen felt a bit too responsable for her girls sometimes, like she had to watch after them. So it was nice to be the one who knew, to be there to help Helen if something happened.

"How do I look?"

"Sweetie, can I please not have a say in this? How am I supposed to know how you wanna look?"

Helen rolled her eyes.

"OK, if I was going out on a date with a guy, what would you say?"

"So is this a date now?"

"Don't start" Helen answered with a smile on her face. She couldn't be bothered.

"OK, I'm off now. Do you wanna come along? We're meeting in town"

"I'm going home, thanks"

The girls left together and took different directions. Gwen went walking to her house, which wasn't far from Helen's. She didn't mind walking. She had a lot in her head and it gave her time to think them through. Helen took the bus, she was meeting Jackie at Burguer King before they took off to her house. Her parents would be out till late that night...

* * *

"Wow, this is huge!" Helen exclaimed as she entered Jackie's room.

"I know... Since my brother got married and all my parents decided to tear down the wall to his room and make mine bigger. I love being only child now!" she said with a childish smile. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"One sister, Rebecca. She's 20."

For a minute the girls just looked at each other. Helen didn't know what to do. After a few seconds, she walked up to the window and looked out, slightly nervous. Jackie realised what was happening and wondered what to say to make her more comfortable, like she had done at the party.

"Wanna watch some t.v.?"

"Sure"

Jackie reached the remote and turned her t.v. on, sitting on her bed. Helen carefull approached and sat next to her, surprising herself by the way her hands were trembling a bit. "Hell, yeah, I want this!" she reminded herself.

Both silently began watching an old episode of an american sitcom, laughing together quite a few times. After a while, Jackie looked at Helen, who felt the pair eyes on her. She turned to look back and smiled weakly. Jackie was a pretty little girl. She had green eyes and straight dark hair and bangs that framed her freckled face adoringly. She was petit, just about 5'2 and really thin.

Her smile was adorable and she flashed one back at Helen as she slowly leaned in to kiss her, this time with much more passion than before. Helen had kissed before, sure, but couldn't exactly say she had much experience on this. But she was getting the hang of it, tasting every inch of Jackie's mouth.

After a while, Jackie pulled away slightly just to whisper into Helen's ear.

"Do you wanna go further?"

Helen couldn't deny the urge builting up inside of her, but she was too aprehensive. She quickly pulled away from Jackie.

"What?"

Jackie looked at her for a couple of seconds before replying.

"You know... touching and stuff. And, if you like that..." she trailled off. "If you want, Helen."

Helen continued silent, so Jackie sighed.

"Helen, I'm just gonna touch you and you're gonna like it." She said, sternly.

Pause.

"It's not like you're gonna get pregnant or anything" she joked.

Helen smiled weakly.

"OK"

Helen came closer again and did her best to sush the voices in the back of her head. "It feels too good to be wrong.. Besides, it's my life" she thought to herself before losing it completely.

As they resumed kissing, Helen felt Jackie's hand sliding under her shirt. The soft touch against her back gave her shivers. Jackie found her bra and easily unhooked it. "Guess that's a pro of being with a girl" Helen giggled to herself at the thought. Jackie broke away from their kiss and looked at Helen, silently making sure she was allowed to go on. Helen didn't have to say anything or even nod.

Jackie slid her own shirt and bra first and then Helen's. Helen couldn't help but feel a little shy, she'd never been naked in front of anyone like that before. But she didn't have much time to think. Jackie kissed her again and this time it was even more obvious the feeling of another girl's body brushing against hers. Helen shut her eyes tighter and Jackie deepened their kiss.

She felt Jackie's hand explore her again. Stroking her back, sliding down to her waist, to her ass. Cupping her breasts. She sighed and Jackie's lips left her mouth. Helen laid in bed and heard her breathing becoming more and more unquiet, her eyes always closed. To concentrate on her mind and on her body. One telling her one thing, and the other...

"Have you ever touched yourself?" Jackie promped herself up again to whisper to Helen.

Helen opened her eyes and looked at Jackie. She just shook her head. Jackie smiled and nodded.

"OK"

Jackie supported herself in one elbow, on her side, right next to Helen. She rested a hand on Helen's stomach and it slowly slid down to find the button to her pants. She took her time to open it. To unzip it. And to slide her hand inside.

Helen sighed blissfully.

She closed her eyes and then opened them to look at Jackie, who was smiling. They kissed again and Jackie rubbed her gently.

"Hmm, nice, isn't it?"

Helen simply nodded, her eyes still closed, her teeth biting her lower lip. Jackie kept going, listening to Helen moan and sigh and then finally shake through her very first orgasm.

"Wow.." she breathlessly said. "So that's...?"

"Yeah" Jackie tilted her head.

"Hm" Helen rolled her head to a side and closed her eyes again, feeling the next few nice waves that washed over her.

They kissed and resumed only the beginning of a very long afternoon.

* * *

Rachel paced around while the other girls sat on a bench, at the airport, all waiting for Ross' plane to land. Rachel was so excited and so nervous she couldn't stand still. In fact, she felt as if all of her unquietness could easily result on a vomiting session any time soon. Before it could, they announced his arrival and Rachel rushed to the gate, like Ross was already there and would not wait, closely followed by her friends who tried hard to keep up.

As every person who wasn't Ross stepped out, Rachel's heart beated faster. When he came to sight, looking stunning in a red polo shirt and jeans, she couldn't contain the biggest smile, the one she'd been urging to smile for so long. He spotted her and both literally ran towards each other, meeting half way in an almost rib breaking hug.

"I can't believe you're here" Rachel whispered in a sing of relief, closing her eyes to feel his embrace better. His warmth was almost surreal to her.

He also closed his eyes, happy to hear her voice, to feel her tiny body on his and her scent all around, surrounding them in a magical bubble. Ross and Rachel's bubble. One that no one else was allowed in.

"I can't believe I'm here either" he whispered back.

They broke the hug to look at each other, both smiling. It was disconcerting not knowing what to do first. Hug, kiss, look, touch. There were so many things to do. But the tears he caught in her eyes made him decide on just looking at her.

"Aw, honey... don't cry, I'm right here. I love you"

She wrapped her arms around his waist again.

"I love you too"

Both smiled widely and leaned towards a passionate kiss.

The girls watched that scene each with different thoughts in their heads, but nonetheless all happy for Rachel. Michelle, in special, had lots of things in mind. She noticed the way Rachel kissed Ross, just how she touched him, bringing him closer, urging for more. And she envyed it. She realised that just because you're with someone doesn't really mean you're in love with him. And she wondered how many times she envyed what other people had, when they possibly had nothing to be cherished. Rachel? No, she really had it.

After a few minutes of kissing, Ross and Rachel broke, almost relutanctly. They'd have a lot of time for that later. That wasn't the time or place. They smiled widely at each other and kissed softly one more time, hugging tight after it.

"I've missed you so much..." she said, closing her eyes and hugging him so tight he felt like he couldn't breath. But it didn't matter, he missed her just as much and, if it wasn't for his fear of hurting her on the process, he was sure he'd do the same.

"I've missed you too, honey" he stroked her back instead. "Oh, and by the way, the uniform looks even sexier in person"

Rachel broke the hug, smiling at him.

"Oh yeah?" she teased him.

He wrapped her arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him again.

"Oh my God"

He nuzzled his nose on her neck and she giggled.

"Please... look at this skirt. You can't even see my legs in this thing"

"You're that hot, Rachel"

She chuckled and kissed him again, sensually toying with him in a way that she knew he loved. After they broke, she took him by his hand.

"Now come and meet my friends"

He nodded, smiling, and both walked over to the girls, with their arms always around each other.

"Hm, you guys, this is Ross. Ross, this is Helen, that's Gwen and Michelle."

Rachel still kept hugging him and he shook hands with the girls.

"Oh, thank God you're here. If Rachel said your name one more time I would shoot myself" Gwen joked, only with a serious voice.

Ross smiled at Rachel, who looked rather shy.

"If I were you I'd stay away from Chandler and Joey for a while longer"

Rachel smiled back and kissed him again. The girls looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

"Okay! We're off now" Gwen almost shouted, making Ross and Rachel part, both embarassed. Gwen smiled at their reaction and continued. "We're going to town now. If you wanna meet us later, just give me a call"

They said their goodbyes and Rachel went with Ross to get his luggage and, after that, head out to the hotel where he was staying.

* * *

As if rehersed, the second they entered the room they embraced in a passionate kiss. They had a lot of catching up to do...

The clothes were removed quickly, they didn't have time to savour every little second, this time. Though he enjoyed watching her in her pretty little uniform, what lied beneath proved to be even better. The heat was increasing with every touch.

They fell naked on the king sized bed and kissed for a long time. His hands stroked her body gently yet powerfully and that alone was making Rachel moan already. Her soft girly sounds were only turning him on more. When she rubbed herself against him, he knew he would very soon lose it.

"Hm, hold that thought" he hurriedly whispered to her as he got out of bed to find a condom through his bags. Rachel watched and had to laugh to herself at his speed.

Her cellphone rang.

"Is that your..?"

"Yeah" Rachel groaned. "Let me-" she got out og bed and searched through her bag. "It can be my mom..." She found it and looked at the screen. She sighed. "Told ya" She flipped it open. "Hey, mom. (...) Yeah, he's just arrived. (...) No, we uh- we dropped his stuff now we're in town with the girls." He watched her nervously play with a strand of her golden hair. "Dinner?" she looked at her watch. "Sure, we could do that. (...) Yeah, OK, we'll be there soon. OK, mom, bye" she hung up.

Ross sat on the edge of the bed, condom on his hand.

"Now, that's gotta be a turn off"

Rachel looked at him and smiled.

"Are you kidding? We haven't been together in months..."

She came closer and kissed him provocatively.

"Hm, you've sure been naughty lately, haven't you?" he whispered while he let the kiss keep on lingering.

"You can say that again" she kissed him one more time.

They laughed and fell back onto the bed.

"We're having dinner with my family tonight, OK?"

"You're seriously gonna keep on talking about them now?" he joked, nibbling her neck. She giggled.

"If you keep on doing that on the meantime, I just might"

"OK, so do you think your mother believed you?"

She smiled.

"I don't care" She slided her hand from up his back down to his naked butt. "Come on"

He chuckled and prepared himself to enter her.

"Either way, we could go and meet the girls later to have an alibi"

"Alright"

He entered her and both sighed in union. She smiled and kissed him adoringly.

"I love you"

"I love you too"

"I'm so happy you're here"

"Believe me, so am I"

Rachel closed her eyes and sighed blissfully, well knowing this probably wasn't the most romantic encounter she'd ever envisioned for them, but it was everything it was supposed to be. Just him and her. Together and in love.

That alone made everything perfect.

* * *

I'm so sorry this has taken so long...! It's so many things I can't even begin to list! And weird part is, I had most of it written for a long time now. I just couldn't figure out what lines I could or could not cross. I'm still not sure about this chapter, but I figured I might aswell post it now and check it later. School, migrains, projects and so much more are killing me! And to top it all, now I'm writing columns about movies and fashion for a college newspaper. Not even mine! Anyway... Better post this now, my head is pounding madly! Anyway, wanna thank those who read and specially reviewed. Specially friendsaddict and Laura. Got your messages today and that's sorta what pushed me into finally posting this! Hope it's worth the wait. Things should be getting more interesting from now on. Or so I hope. Unfortunately, I can't say next chapter will be posted soon, for sure. We'll see. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Venus  
**by Tina

Yes, it's been a long time :)

---

Michelle and Gwen sat together on a table at Burger King. Both were silent, seeking for distraction any way they could think of. Michelle was observing a tiny ketchup bag while Gwen played with the remainings of the milkshake she'd just had. She was facing the door and looked up just in time to see Cameron and Jason entering together.

"Oh shit" she mumbled.

"What?"

Michelle followed her sight and her eyes met her boyfriends'. He smiled.

"Hey" he said, approaching. Jason followed.

"Hi" Michelle replied. Gwen only shook her head slightly, as a greeting sign. Jason stared.

"Gwen, can I have a word with you outside for a sec?"

Gwen stared back.

"Sure"

She got up and together they made their way out. Michelle watched them leave and Cameron surprised her with a kiss. She softly rested a hand on his cheek. When it ended, he sat next to her.

"Have you had something to eat yet?"

"No, I was waiting for you"

He smiled wider.

"What do you want? I'll go get it for us."

She smiled back.

-

Gwen crossed her arms tightly across her chest when they stepped outside. The chilly weather made her cheeks turn pink almost instantly and Jason couldn't help but smile at that. She shifted her weight, uncomfortably noticing his eyes on her.

"So..." she began, eager to get this over with.

"Gwen, I..." he trailled off. "The other night, I just... I just wanna say I'm sorry, I guess, for rushing it and, I don't know, I kinda get the feeling I scared you off or something"

She chuckled.

"What is it with some guys? Girls aren't victims, Jason, and I'm aware of that. We did it because we both wanted, you shouldn't apologise, really."

He smiled at the cool way she said all that. Her arms finally loosened up and she gesticulated a bit. She even gave him a smile.

"It's just... I like you" her expression changed again, to a worried on. But he continued. "You're not like most girls, who, you know..."

"Yeah, I know." She didn't know how to begin... But while she thought about it, he surprised her when he stepped closer and she quickly held her breath, almost scared he would kiss her right away. But seeing that's not what he was about to do, she exhailed slowly, uncletching her shoulder muscles.

"So listen, do you wanna, maybe, go out sometime?"

She kept looking into his eyes.

"I- I don't think that's such a good idea, Jason"

"Why not?"

"Just because..." she looked away and crossed her arms again.

"Gwen, I don't know about you, but I don't go around parties sleeping around with random girls" The hostility that only half showed in his tone hit Gwen.

"Well, I'm sorry, Jason, but aparently I still have plenty of guys to screw around in parties, as you seem to believe. So why should I bother wasting my time with you, right?"

She exhailed, frustrated, and left.

-

Back inside Burger King, Cameron had returned with a tray full of food for Michelle and himself. He sat next to her again and got his sanduich, letting Michelle have the tray.

"Here you go, a chicken Whopper and a diet coke to the lady"

"Thanks" she smiled and started eating the fries.

He unwrapped his sandwich and glanced at her quickly. She looked back quickly aswell. She clutched her cup tight and had a few more fries. A small yet palpable tension was building up. It was their first time out together and alone since they had started dating.

She repositioned herself on her seat, sitting up straight and unwrapped her sanduich.

"Could you pass me the ketchup over there?" he asked her in a rather small voice.

"Here, have them all. They're really caloric"

He chuckled and shook his head.

"Why are you girls always worried about that?"

"'Cause we wanna look nice. Guys like the skinny ones"

"Oh, no we don't. At least I know I don't"

She shot him a look, and she couldn't really tell if it was playful or if she was really that upset by his statement.

"Are you calling me fat?"

"You're perfect"

She cracked up a smile.

"Is this a way of making up for what you've just said?"

"No. Just a way of letting you know I think you're beautiful the way you are. And so much more"

Michelle looked at him deeply, knowing that, if this was a movie, that would sure be one of the lines she'd remember and repeat later, complaining she didn't have anybody to say them to her.

She imagined that if it ever happened to her, she would be blown away. Fireworks would go off in the background. It would be everything she would ever want to hear in her life. What else could matter that much? After all, "all you need is love", right?

But that particular moment was... numb. Michelle reacted with a small smile.

"Thanks", she politely answered.

She didn't know quite what she felt. It seemed unreal. Surreal. Whatever...

"Michelle?" a voice called out. Michelle raised her sight and spotted a group of 3 girls, all wearing her school uniform.

"Hey, Melinda" she unexcitedly replied.

Since the two words they ever exchanged to each other were hello and goodbye, after a second Michelle looked back up, surprised the girls were still standing near.

"What's up?" Melinda asked.

Michelle raised her eyebrows, confused.

"Not much..." she paused. "You?" she added, uncertainly.

"We're good", she replied quickly, almost as if she was getting unpatient.

"Aren't you gonna introduce us to your friend?" one of the girls standing behind Melinda asked. Michelle looked at Cameron and everything finally made sense.

"Is he a cousin, or...?" the third one added, just as giddy.

"No, uh..."

"I'm Cameron" he picked up and put an arm around Michelle. "Michelle's boyfriend. Nice meeting you"

Michelle smiled at the way the girls' faces fell in disapointment and then flinched with surprise.

"Oh..." Melinda mumbled. And Michelle could read behind her lines and see beyond her eyes. She was jealous.

Oh, what was the big deal? Michelle stared at them confused, not being able to understand why she would be envyed by those girls for such thing.

Huh.

Funny, she used to be one of those envying this...!

"Hey you guys!" Rachel's cheary voice brought Michelle out of her thoughts.

"Hey Rach" Michelle said, watching as Rachel and Ross, hands on each other's, made their way through the girls.

"Are these taken?" Rachel gestured towards the two available seats in front of Michelle and Cameron.

"No, go ahead"

Ross and Rachel sat down.

"Hey Cameron, hey girls" Rachel greeted them all, not able to control the toothy smile she bore. They greeted them back. "This is Ross, my boyfriend. He arrived today from New York."

"Hi, what's up" Ross shyly said, nodding his head, smiling as brightly as Rachel.

The three girls didn't look so amused. They quickly came up with an excuse and left the two couples by themselves. As soon as they left, with very fake "buh-bye"s, Rachel and Michelle looked at each other, giggling.

"What was that about?" Rachel asked.

"No idea!"

"What? What happened?" Ross asked.

"Nothing, they just... are not very good people. Think my chearleader friends from back home"

"Say no more"

"So, Ross, how are you liking England so far?"

He looked at Rachel.

"Enjoying every second of it"

They kissed softly and held hands, staring at each other lovingly. Michelle leaned back on her chair. Maybe there really was something to be envyed, after all.

"Where are Gwen and Helen?"

"Oh." Michelle frowned, confused. "Gwen left to talk to Jason outside" she turned around and tried to peek. "Did you see them out there?"

"No"

Michelle turned back to face them and smiled.

"Well, maybe they wanted to be alone for a while"

"Maybe" Rachel smiled back.

"God, I hope so" said Cameron. "He's been talking about her nonstop since we've met you girls. I hope things work out so he can finally shut up."

"And where's Helen?"

"She's out with Jackie and some other girls, I don't really know where they went"

"They've really hit it off, huh?" Rachel asked, full of naivety.

"Yeah" Cameron mumbled.

Ross turned to Rachel.

"Do you wanna get something to eat?"

"Thanks, I'm good." Ross shot her a concerned look, only partly playful. She smiled in return. "OK, I'll have some fries and some of your coke. But don't eat too much, remember about dinner"

"OK" he stood up.

"Diet and with a lot of ice" she shouted after him.

"I know" he said, rolling his eyes.

"See, Ross doesn't care about that eiter" Cameron pointed out to Michelle.

"What?" Rachel asked, lost.

"Nothing, he was just picking on me because women like to watch their weight"

Rachel shifted on her seat, a little uncomfortable. Yet, she smiled a little.

"Yeah, Ross is always worrying about my diets too..."

"They can be very unhealthy, you know? Plus, there's all the psychological damage you can put yourself through"

Rachel supported her elbon on the top of the table, looking around, not wanting to be a part of that conversation. After Ross came back, they ate and chatted for over an hour, hitting it off, having a good time. When they stepped outside to leave, Ross turned to Rachel.

"Is there any pharmacy around? I forgot to pack a few things"

"There's one right around the corner."

"Alright, I'll run by. It'll only be a sec, OK?"

"I'll join you" Cameron offered.

"OK, thanks"

"Honey, we'll be waiting at that store right over there, OK?" Rachel informed her boyfriend.

"OK"

They kissed and parted ways.

-

Ross picked up a basket as they entered the pharmacy, Cameron right at his side.

"So, how long have you and Rachel been together?" Cameron started with the small talk, very needed to fill the silence.

"We dated for like, hm, a week some time ago... Then after a while we got back together and that was when her parents decided to move here. So we didn't get to be together much...!"

He put an after shave lotion into the basket.

"Wow, and you still managed to get that attached?"

"Well, we've known each other for years... She's my little sister's best friend and we got to hang out a lot, you know? I've always had a huge crush on her. She was a chearleader and I was in the Science club."

He smiled and picked out a pack of cotton swabs.

"Oh, OK then..."

"How about you and Michelle?"

"Only a week."

"Still very recent then?"

"Yeah"

Ross stopped in front of the condoms shelf. Cameron looked at him, surprised, and watched as Ross picked out a few boxes. Cameron smiled and picked out a few himself.

"So how did you guys meet?" Ross naturally went on with their conversation.

---

Helen entered the tiny two bedroom apartment with Jackie. There was a big sofa on the livingroom right in front of a tv and a counter that separated the kitchen. Two guys and one girl were sitting on the sofa, chatting. The girl was laughing uncontrolably. Helen recognised her, it was the girl Jackie was kissing at the party, the previous week. At the counter, Gabrielle, the host, was mixing some drinks.

Jackie closed the door behind her and threw her keys on the coffee table. Gabrielle looked up and smiled at them.

"Hey!"

They all greeted one another. Helen was a little aprehensive, but looking around she actually calmed down a bit. It was definitely not what she was expecting, everybody was behaving quite friendly and not undressing her with their eyes, as she had imagined.

"Here, it's not too strong. It's only to loosen yourself a bit" Gabrielle offered Helen a drink.

"Thanks"

Jackie pulled out two chairs and passed one over to Helen. They sat down.

"Nice place" Helen told Gabrielle.

"Thanks. It's small, but at least it's all mine"

"Yeah, Jackie told me about your parents"

"They're having a blast in Paris, but I didn't want to leave just yet. I like it here"

Helen politely smiled.

"So, guys, this is Helen. Helen, these are Ryan, Josh and you know Paula"

"Hey" Helen nodded with her head.

"Hey Helen / Welcome / Nice meeting you"

"So how did you meet Jackie?"

"At Burger King, a couple of weeks ago"

"Helen's friends with Michelle and Gwen. You know, Jason and Cameron's girlfriends"

"Oh, I don't know about Gwen being Jason's girlfriend..." Helen said, sipping her drink.

"Really? I thought everything was settled there."

"Nothing's really settled when it comes to Gwen, I think. She's... complicated. I don't think she knows what she wants"

"I guess it comes with the teenage package"

"Well, she takes it too seriously, maybe that's the problem" Helen said feeling wise, feeling more and more comfortable there, as a part of the group. Accepting each passing second more the idea that what she was doing there was alright, was acceptable and cool. Foolish would have been to not experiment.

They drank and talked for a long time. The guys lighted up a joint, but Helen refused it with surprising naturality. It was not for about an hour later that Gabrielle and one of the guys retreated to one of the bedrooms. Helen watched after them and looked around.

"Hey" Helen looked at Jackie. "You don't have to do anything tonight if you don't want to" Jackie told her.

Helen smiled and kissed her deeply.

"I really wasn't sure at first, but..." Helen trailed off and smiled again at Jackie. After a small silence, she nodded.

---

The palpable silence that fell upon the Green's household as they ate was almost unbearable to Ross. They were still serving themselves and not a single word had been spoken for nearly three minutes. Ross looked at Rachel across the table from him and she gave him a weak smile. She'd kept him informed about her parents' situation and now he could see with his own eyes just how bad it had become. It broke his heart to see what his girlfriend had to face everyday in her own home.

When they finally had been all served, they started eating quietly.

"Hm, everything is delicious, Mrs. Green"

Sandra Green smiled at Ross, a genuine smile he honestly didn't expect.

"Thank you, Ross"

He smiled back. It felt nice to think she aproved his relationship with her daughter. However, looking at the rest of the table, that good feeling could have easily faded. Dr. Green, Rachel's dad, was watching his every move, as if waiting for any sign that would confirm his beliefs that he was simply not good enough for his eldest. Meanwhile, Amy and Jill were oblivious to everything, too engrossed in their own little world.

"So what are you doing with your life, Geller?"

Ross could almost feel his sweat glans beginning to warm up.

"Well, Sir, I've just started going to college at NYU. I'll be majoring in Paleontology and I've already managed to get a job as an assistant-intern at the Museum of Natural Art."

Rachel smiled proudly at him and he smiled back, but Dr. Green didn't look amused.

The rest of the meal was rather unrelevant, being marked here and there by some small talk that unsucessfully tried to ease the tension. When it was time for Ross to leave, he asked Rachel how he could call a cab.

"No, we'll drop you off."

"I don't wanna cause any trouble, Rach..." he said upon seeing the look Leonard Green gave at Rachel's idea.

"Nonsense!" Sandra said, already picking up the keys to her car. "It's no trouble, Ross, we'll drop you off"

Ross smiled.

"Thanks Mrs. Green"

"Can I drive?" Rachel asked enthusiastically.

"Nice try"

As they started walking towards the main door, Ross followed, looking back at Dr. Green and nodding with his head, a little scared.

"Thanks for dinner, Dr. Green"

-

As the car pulled over right in front of the Hotel entrance, Ross said his goodbyes and stepped outside. Rachel followed him out and walked with him untill they reached the rotating door. Without a word, only a smile, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed him.

"Thanks for coming, Ross"

And he knew she didn't mean just to dinner.

He brushed away a strand of hair from her face and smiled back.

"It's my pleasure."

They kissed again.

"I'll see you tomorrow"

He nodded and watched as she skipped back into her mother's car, looking back at him once.

---

Helen got home late that night. She was exausted. She colapsed her sore body onto her bed and sighed. There she remained motionless for what it seemed like a whole century. After a while, she promped herself up as she remembered her cellphone was still soundless. When she picked it up from her bag, she noticed there were several unanswered calls, mostly from Gwen, and a voice message. She played it.

_"Hey Helen, it's Gwen. Listen, call me and let me know when your next little meeting will be, OK? Thanks, bye"_

Helen frowned and mumbled, staring at her cellphone.

"What the fuck?"

---

Hee, wanna hear something funny? As I was writing this, I went into a website to look up the word "cotton swabs". There, it says that Q-Tips' first name was actually "Baby Gays". Cracked me up )  
Anyway... little note... I'm actually happy with this :) I was stuck for a long, long time. But I'm glad I managed to write this. I think I know where it's going now, which makes the writing process way easier, lol :) So see, these long pauses are sometimes good. I've also learned a lot on these past few months and I plan on encorporating a lot of that here. We'll see. Please review so I can know what you guys are thinking, if you're reading, if you're liking, if you have any suggestion, if you want me to get bolder on the sex stuff (must say I'm not gonna write smut though). I can't read minds yet, so we're gonna have to do it this way untill I master that :) Thanks for reading!


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